On Friday 25th July the Spanish Chamber of Commerce hosted an informative session as part of a programme named “The Two Weeks”, which is jointly organised by the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the Valencia University.
This is the third year in a row in which the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain takes part in this exciting initiative. The delegation who came to London was led by Mr. Antonio Reig, Prof. Dr. Industrial Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and coordinator of the programme.
The “Two Weeks Programme”takes place once a year and it gives 20 students from the above universities the opportunity to travel to London for a 2-week stay to come into contact with an international job market. During the programme the participants attend a course about recruitment processes and visit prestigious companies from different industries related to their field of studies, such as Energy, IT, Industrial Production, Technical Consultancy, Financial Engineering, Construction and Real Estate.
From left to right: Mr. Antonio Reig, Ms. Cristina Carmona and Ms. Berta Ferrer during the informative session.
The session hosted at the Spanish Chamber provided further information about the role of the institution, the opportunities available in the UK for young graduates and, for the first time, introduced a success story of a Spanish entrepreneur in London.
To start off, Ms. Cristina Carmona, Head of Corporate Relations and Communication, welcomed the participants on behalf of tour institution and spoke about the main services provided by the Chamber and the activities we organise throughout the year. Among these, she focused on The Graduate European Programme, which shares similar goals with ‘The Two Weeks Programme’. This topic proved of special interest for the students, who took the opportunity to enquire further about it.
The next speaker was Ms. Sofía Vázquez, CEO of Mundialengua, a company specialised in finding internships and placements for graduates. She gave the students some useful tips for interviews and selection processes, and highlighted the importance of making a first good impression.
Ms. Sofia Vázquez with Mr. Antonio Reig after the end of the session.
She also mentioned other things to take into consideration such as the need to be flexible in a competitive and demanding market. She also encouraged attendees to look for internships, as in her own words “it is a really good way to explore the market and to learn; even when it is not paid you may get an opportunity to stay afterwards.”
Afterwards, Mr. Antonio Reig introduced Berta Ferrer, a participant from last year´s program, who is currently working and studying in London. Berta commented on her personal experience and shared some useful tips with attendees.
Finally it was the turn of Ms Paloma Tomas, founder of DotComRepublic, who talked about her experience as an entrepreneur in the UK. Paloma explained the concept of digital marketing and provided students with real examples on how it applies to companies.
Ms. Paloma Tomás (left) founder of DotComRepublic during her talk.
Our Secretary General, Igor Urra closed the informative session and received a commemorative plaque from Mr. Antonio Reig as a memory of this third collaboration between our institution and the participants of the “Two Weeks Programme”.
Our Secretary Genral, Igor Urra was handed a commemorative plate to mark this thrid colaboration with “Two Weeks Programme”.
We would like to thank all the speakers of this informative session as well as the students who have taken part this year in the “Two Weeks Programme” for their interest and involvement.